Irish Willow was one of the few ships which maintained Irish trade during World War II.
At the outbreak of World War II, sometimes referred to in Ireland as "The Emergency", Ireland declared neutrality and became isolated as never before. Although Ireland had a substantial food surplus, there were shortages of specific foods such as fruits, wheat and tea. There were very few Irish ships as shipping had been neglected since independence. Foreign ships which had transported Irish cargoes, before the war, were soon unavailable.
Otto, an Estonian ship, was in Cobh when the Republic of Estonia was annexed by the USSR. In October 1941 trustees for the absent owners leased her to Irish Shipping. She was renamed Irish Willow, She made 18 voyages to Saint John, New Brunswick, returning with wheat. She also exported food to Britain and imported coal. Initially Irish ships sailed in British convoys. In the light of experience they chose to sail alone, relying on their neutral markings. German respect for that neutrality varied from friendly to tragic.
Construction
The ship was built as yard number 143 by the Toledo Shipbuilding Company, Toledo, Ohio, United States for the United States Shipping Board. A Standard World War I cargo ship, she was laid down as War Flag, but named Lake Sunapee after the lake in New Hampshire. She was launched on 28 December 1917, while World War I was still in progress. The ship was a single deck vessel with a grain capacity of and bunker capacity of . She was long, wide and deep. Her triple expansion steam engine had cylinders of , and diameter by in stroke. Working at a pressure of , it developed 260nhp. The engine was built by Toledo Shipbuilding.
Early history
As a Laker she was designed to navigate the canal locks bypassing Niagara Falls. Lake Sunapee served as a U.S. Army transport, based in Cardiff, Wales, bringing coal to France. She departed from Cardiff for New York City on 7 June 1919, arrived 25 June and was decommissioned at Hoboken, New Jersey 3 July 1919.
Little is known of her service in the years immediately following World War I, although it is recorded that she arrived at New York from the Pará on 29 May 1920. She was laid up until 1923 when she was sold to W. J. Gray Jnr. of San Francisco and renamed Frank Lynch. Frank Lynch was built as a coal-fired steamship with a triple-expansion steam engine. In 1923 the engine was replaced with a Werkspoor diesel engine. which had 8 cylinders of diameter by stroke. The engine was rated at 253nhp. It was built by the Pacific Diesel Engine Company, Oakland, California. On 29 August 1929, the passenger ship collided with the tanker S.C.T. Dodd and sank with the loss of many lives. Frank Lynch, Munami and S.C.T. Dodd rescued the survivors.
In 1937, she was sold to the Greek company George D. Gratsos' Sons, who renamed her Nestor. In 1938 she suffered a total engine failure and was towed to Rotterdam, South Holland, Netherlands, where she was converted back to a steamship. A replacement triple expansion steam engine was fitted. It was made by John Lewis & Son, Aberdeen, United Kingdom. It had cylinders of , and diameter by stroke and was rated at 153nhp. In 1939 she was sold to K. Jurnas of Estonia and renamed Otto.
World War II
Background
The Irish government had pursued a policy of autarky or self-sufficiency, so international trade was discouraged and the mercantile marine ignored. At independence in 1923 there were 127 Irish ships, but by September 1939 there were only 56, including 7 which did not carry cargo. Irish imports such as wheat, maize, timber and fertilizer were carried on foreign, mainly British, ships. With the outbreak of hostilities, they were unavailable. Churchill explained "we need this tonnage for our own supply". In November 1939, American ships were excluded from Irish waters by the neutrality act. By the end of 1940, nine Irish ships as well as ten neutral foreign ships carrying Irish cargoes, some of which had been chartered by Irish companies, had been sunk by U-boats, the Luftwaffe or mines.
Against this background, the government founded Irish Shipping and sought ships which it could charter or purchase. Irish Willow was one of those ships.